Niederhaslach Church

Niederhaslach Church
Église paroissiale Saint-Jean Baptiste Collégiale Saint-Florent
Location	Niederhaslach
Country	France
Denomination	Roman Catholic Church
History
Founded	1274
Architecture
Heritage designation	Monument historique
Designated	1846
Architect(s)	Gerlach von Steinbach
Style	Gothic architecture
Completed	1385
Specifications
Length	51.1 m (168 ft)
Height	42 m (138 ft)

The Roman CatholicParish church Saint John the Baptist (French: Église paroissiale Saint-Jean Baptiste), formerly Collegiate church Saint Florentius (Collégiale Saint-Florent) is the main church of the small city of Niederhaslach in Alsace. The building is widely considered one of the finest and most ornate examples of Gothic architecture and Gothic art in the Bas-Rhin departement of France.

The church, which was originally dedicated to Florentius of Strasbourg, bishop of Strasbourg from 618–624, was built from 1274 on as a replacement for a building from the 7th century that had been the shrine since 810 (by order of bishop Ratho) of relics of the Saint. The new church was under construction until 1385: a fire on 4 June 1287 that destroyed everything but the choir as well as the accidental death of the architect Gerlach von Steinbach (the son of Erwin von Steinbach) in 1330 had slowed down its completion. The church was plundered during the German Peasants' War in 1525 and on 6 June 1633, it was burned by Swedish mercenaries during the Thirty Years' War. The building was neglected during the following two centuries and even served as a slaughterhouse in 1744. The French Revolution, however, spared the church, but dissolved the chapter to which it belonged. The church was thoroughly restored from 1853 to 1887 by architects Émile Boeswillwald and Charles Winkler, and again from 1990 to 2006.

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